I understand that he can't tell us anything. But that title was such a bait & switch.

AnonymousAnimus | March 10, 02:43 CET

You kinda thought you were supposed to end up with Bait?
I hear ya.

Boto | March 10, 02:46 CET

Ha! Nice.

AnonymousAnimus | March 10, 02:48 CET

It's still kind of a spoiler though? Like, the show could have been set in flashback, etc...

grrarg | March 10, 03:10 CET

I've been assuming Holo!Coulson. Like their very own Rimmer.

KingofCretins | March 10, 05:18 CET

I'm sure that there's some kind of vision for what to do with Coulson post-Avengers...

pacer | March 10, 05:57 CET

Well, there goes my Artificial Intelligence theory. Still, go to know he's back in the flesh. I know Joss has brought characters back from the dead before, but I'm having a hard time believing that this was his idea...

Egghead | March 10, 06:40 CET

pacer: I see what you did there. :)

gianetta | March 10, 06:59 CET

Since it wasn't Joss Whedon's idea to kill Coulson off in the first place (according to multiple interviews), and there were clues in "Avengers" suggesting that Fury was using the team's *belief* that Coulson had died as a motivating force, I'm not sure that Coulson was actually meant to be dead at all by now, just that the Avengers were meant to think so.

Shapenew | March 10, 09:07 CET

Hmm. That could be a good way to effectively write the stories in such a way as to not have any avengers appearing. (Or at least the ones who were on the team in the film.)

i.e If Coulson is effectively having to 'shield' ;) his presence from the Avengers, to maintain a cover up, and avoid revealing that Fury faked his death to inspire them. So he'd always have to be taking him and his team away from a place before any avengers show up..LOL!

Jas | March 10, 10:55 CET

What Jas said kinda makes me wonder how SHIELD is gonna handle other Marvel superhero properties that they currently don't have Hollywood rights to, namely X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, etc. I was never a big SHIELD fan (at least in reading their own comics), but it seemed to me that a big aspect of that organization was interaction with other superheroes, or at least the fact that they lived in the same universe. If SHIELD is only limited to the Avengers movie roster and Hulk, that's kind of a small list to base the universe around (even though they won't be in it directly).

archon | March 10, 12:28 CET

That's always been my take Shapenew. We never saw the medics call the death, we cut away and then 'heard' Fury say he was dead. How would Fury have known where Coulson had put the cards unless he told Fury? It reminds me of the scene where we thought Cordy had died and cut to a funeral scene, only for Buffy and Willow to walk past.

zz9 | March 10, 17:46 CET

Jaz, Archon, I'm guessing that SHIELD will be called upon to work on cases that involve maybe superhero-type tech, but without any superheroes. Otherwise, the audience would keep waiting for the special guest stars and feel cheated. I'm thinking SHIELD will be doing the kind of stuff it does when they're *not* helping the superheroes directly.

Shapenew | March 10, 20:26 CET

They are primarily an espionage organisation. The new series of Secret Avengers apparently gives a handy hint or two to the show's direction.

Simon | March 10, 20:41 CET

I was intregued by Joss' statement that SHIELD agents would be dealing with the mess the Superheroes leave behind. It is all well and good for aliens to invade and Hulk to smash, but someone has to be responsible for 'clean up' and explaining the inexplicable to the public (and the government). It will be like the backstage story of what goes on in a world with uncontrollable forces periodically stepping in and taking control (and all the 'little people' scramble).

embers | March 10, 20:42 CET

in the Marvel Universe, SHEILD has three parts to every arc....the things they can handle, the part they can't, then the part they clean up. A creative writer can play with that form forever. (a la the "spiderman" cartoon of the 90's...little plot points developed into major arcs over time. we will see if our man has the stones to carry it off.)

BarryC | March 11, 02:00 CET

I think the most important thing is how he's going to react to the news about his trading cards. They were vintage! It's going to take half a season to heal that pain.

Sunfire | March 11, 03:54 CET

I like how you think, Sunfire. That alone would be worth the price of admission.

Hera | March 12, 01:53 CET

Assuming that ABC picks up the show and is going to air it this Fall, I would like to see the entire ad campaign centered around those trading cards! They can pretty much conclude that everyone who would tune in to see SHIELD has already seen AVENGERS (because pretty much everyone went to see AVENGERS), so I think they should play off of that.

embers | March 12, 02:02 CET